Correct, I'm the last person on earth to write about Bulletface. My plan was to be the first one. Well well. Not that I have anything new to write, I think the other Pyuniversal Soldiers out there said it all - for example David Zuzelo. Bulletface is in a way the most arty Albert Pyun-movie I've seen. It's quite low on action, and focuses on a low key and well played drama about Dara Marren (Victoria Maurette), an ex-cop who's been in jail for a couple years, and gets out to take revenge on the death of her little brother. He was the on that got here there in the first place, when she was protecting him from being arrested, and now after experienced daily rapes she's not a happy lady. The DEA wants her to help out over one weekend, to bust a new drug dealer who's spreading Red Eye - a dangerous drug that makes you violent, strong and finally kills you. But Dara is not that interested in the drug-biz. She just want's to find out who set her brother up, who pulled the trigger and who's responsible for the plan behind it all...
Bulletface is an odd my, but that's they way we want Albert Pyun to work. His filmmaker-personality is show more clearer. He's like an arthouse-exploitation-director who mixes the esthetics of DTV and French arty farty. Though he's not the man behind the script, everything on the screen is Pyun. From characters to visuals, the music and twists. I've mention before that I think Pyun in secret would want to go back in time to make noir-movies in New York, and it's even more visible here than before. No voice over, but it's about one womans fight for justice among bad guys, femme fatales and a dark past. Victoria Maurette carries the whole movies on her shoulders, and the actors are excellent (my personal favorite is Lydia Castro as Paz Gonzales, who I think can be something very big if she's given the right part), but she's such a big presence through the movie and takes over the scenes. Dara Marren is a very well written characters, and I could see another movie with just her.
Albert Pyun might have made a lot of, at the first glance, macho boys-movies, but if you look closer the women has almost always been the main thing in the stories. Take a look at Nemesis and you first see Oliver Gruner, but the other main and more important parts are female characters. In Bulletface you will see some very nasty rape-scenes, and that's the only nudity that will be show. They are not the least bit sexy, believe me, and just makes the characters more layered and interesting. The men kinda take a step back here and letting Maurette, Castro and Jenny Dare Paulin take over the screen and it feels very fresh.
Bulletface feels part western, part noir, with an ounce of melodrama and thriller. It has a few minor scenes that borders to horror or even some kinda science fiction, but the drama is the most important thing and for once I appreciate that a lot. Pyun has blown up so much stuff anyway that it feels good to just sit back and watch something that deals more with emotions and humanity than explosions and horror.
You can buy it from the offical homepage.
2 comments:
Excellent thoughts..you really nailed the womancentric angle of a lot of Pyun's films. Deceit is boxed up, you are going to pick right up on that. Left For Dead (go, watch it NOW) is all about women in surprising ways.
Also, you will like a lot of the commentary I think, your production experience will help. Knowing that an alleyway, a lab and another set (can't remember off the top of my head) are all in one room, which is why the angles are so limited, was something to look at on my next watch.
I want to see this!
Pyun did excellent with just one-two sets in his OMEGA DOOM and CRAZY SIX.
Those films were occasionally slow-ish, but each had amazing visual touches.
It's very hard for me to criticize Pyun who's always worked in highly compromised conditions.
I hope he'll keep busy making lots of films for many years to come, no matter what the budget
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